All beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) have been paid all their 2015 entitlements.
“LEAP is not in arrears” Mr Dzigbordi Agbekpornu, the Programme Manager, told the maiden mid-year review workshop of the programme on Tuesday.
The event was held on the theme: “LEAP –Building a strong resilient cash transfer system”.
He said as a result of the programme some vulnerable and extremely poor people have been reintegrated into their communities.
Mr Agbekpornu said all 144,980 beneficiary households, 579,920 individuals, including pregnant women and children under one year, from extremely poor and vulnerable homes in 188 districts, have been fully paid.
He said the programme, being implemented by the Department of Social Development, under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, has made a positive impact on the target groups as many beneficiaries were beginning to identify their economic and political potentials in their communities.
Mr Agbekpornu said because of its achievements, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) raised the rating of the programme from grade “C” to grade “A”.
He said in 2016, the programme would be expanded to cover 100,000 households and operational in all districts in the country to give many more people, “building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity.”
Mr Agbekpornu said in 2016, the programme would roll out e-payment services through the Ghana Inter-bank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) to all beneficiaries.
He said currently all district offices of the Department of Social Development were being computerized for effective service delivery.
Madam Helen Adjoa Ntoso, Volta Regional Minister, in a speech read on her behalf, said since 2008, the programme enabled beneficiaries to access healthcare and keep their children in school.
She called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to extend the programme to cover the remaining four out of the 25 districts in the region.
LEAP is a social intervention programme initiated by government to support the extreme poor and vulnerable segments of the Ghanaian population. It supports the poor and vulnerable through direct social cash transfer to households.
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